600 Coaches of Indian Railways parked Together for the First Time
Indian Railways has suspended passenger, mail and express train services from 24 March to 14 April to deal with the spread of coronavirus. Special freight and on-demand parcel trains are operational to ensure the supply of essential commodities across the country. For the first time in the history of Indian Railways which dates back to 167 years; it is the first time that the railway has stopped its passengers’ trains. As a result, 600 coaches are parked in the railway yards that were once used as the major source of revenue for railways and economic development.
Around 600 coaches of Indian Railways are parked on about 40 tracks of Tikiapara coaching yard in the Howrah railway division. Howrah rail division is spread on a total length of 400 kilometers where important junctions like Burdwan and some stations of Bihar and Jharkhand lies. Trains operated from these Railroads are maintained at Howrah Coaching Yard of Eastern Railways. Its first time in the history that out of 1200 employees employed for coaching yard didn’t mark their attendance. About 50 employees reported for duty because of the special task given by the railways to make isolation coaches.
It never happened that all the Trains were Parked Together:
Indian Railways is known for its 24*7 operation but due to the coronavirus outbreak and lockdown, it has come to a standstill. It never happened before that 600 coaches were parked at the same time at one place in a single coaching yard. Howrah coaching yard has more than 100 tracks, where different operational trains with more than 450 coaches and engines halt together. Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, Purva, Yuva Express and many other important trains are parked from a long time. AK Roy, officer (SSE) of Tikipara Coaching Yard said, “In my 33 years of service, I have never seen a situation like this that we have about 1200 employees, of which 52-55 people are working there only to produce isolation coaches.
No Passenger Train will operate even after April 15
Indian Railways is going to start passenger trains service post lockdown was the most buzzing and floating news over the web. However, railways have clarified that it has not taken any decision yet on when the trains will run. Many media reports are reporting about the operation of Rail services from April 15, but officials of Railways denied these reports. Railway officials said that there is no final confirmation received from the Central Government to run the train. He further said about the resuming of train services in the country “But from the day when Railways start operating their train services, a plan has been made for that”. Under this plan, big changes can replace traditional rules. But for the time being, the wheels of trains will remain shut because of the lockdown and coronavirus attack.
Number of Positive Cases of Corona has Reached to 6234
Corona infection is increasing in the country. The number of positive cases of Corona has reached to 6234. So far, a total of 188 people have died due to coronavirus in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to the leaders of the opposition regarding the Corona epidemic. He spoke to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh, Former President Pranab Mukherjee and Pratibha Patil over the phone. According to sources, PM Modi said Mulayam Singh Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav, Mamta Banerjee, Naveen Patnaik, MK Stalin, Prakash Singh discussed the corona effects with many leaders including Badal. The Central Government aimed to strengthen the national and state health systems funded by the taxpayers. National Health Mission Director Vandana Gurnani said that it will be implemented in three phases from January 2020 to March 2024.